Matter as we all know is something that occupies space and has mass, well people take it for granted because it exists everywhere and we see them every day. But the formation and fundamental characteristics of matter are way more complex and difficult to understand since the matter is not independent in its formation and even its existence, which would mean that matter is somewhat “helped” by other forces of nature, special particles, and other cosmic phenomena to either be formed or eventually exist under suitable conditions.
The formation of matter in the Universe was an extremely complex process which took a very large amount of time, considering the fact that the Universe was unimaginably hot and dense and even the forces of nature weren’t separated from each other and we know that collective force, today as the Superforce. The Universe after the Inflationary period, in the matter formation epoch, was losing its temperature hence cooling down to support the formation of the first atoms which were of Hydrogen (H) and Helium (He). We now know about how the formation of the matter might have occurred but still, Scientists stumble to explain how the fundamental particles gave birth to the atoms and other particles in the nature that we understand today.
The Uniting Model for Formation of matter “the Standard Model”:
Image Credit: American Associates Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; aabgu.org
This was a disturbing and intriguing question at the same time which Physicists, weren’t able to understand accurately. A model named “the Standard Model” in physics was theorized by the collective work of scientists to explain the fundamental activities taking place in the Universe for the formation of matter particles. The theory suggested that everything made in the Universe is made up of basic fundamental particles governed by the fundamental forces of nature (strong and weak nuclear force, electrostatic force, and gravitational force). The fundamental particles are of two basic types- Quarks and Leptons. These are two groups of fundamental particles, which is consisted of 6 particles for each of the groups. These are also classified according to the criteria of their stability, the most stable particles make up the first generation whereas, and the second and third generation of particles is occupied by heavier and less stable particles. There is a fundamental law of nature which is applicable to all the matter particles in existence that, stability is the favorite state of any particle hence, the particle is a puzzle solver in this case since it has the task of making itself stable by whatever way it likes but without cheating, that is by not disobeying the laws of nature. The same is applicable to the fundamental particles as well. The stable matter which we see in the Universe is made from stable particles hence the first generation of particles is involved in their creation. But as the rule and considering the grievance of the matter particles for their “favorite state” is given permission to be fulfilled by the Universe here also, since the particles which are heavier and unstable quickly decay to form stable particles. This is just a basic description of how what we see corresponds with the fundamental composition of its making.
Are some specific “fundamental particles” responsible for the influence of the forces of Nature?
Image Credit: Daniel Dominguez/CERN; https://home.cern/science/physics/standard-model
Yes, Fundamental forces of nature are carried between particles, these forces are carried by special particles called “Bosons”, and for example, we today know a lot about Electromagnetic Radiation, inclusive of the fact that electromagnetic radiation is transported or carried by “photons”. Energy or forces are exchanged between the particles with the exchange of boson particles which are responsible for the transmission of a particular type of fundamental force. Similarly like the “photons”, other “Bosons” like “W” and “Z”, are responsible for the weak nuclear force, hence all the fundamental forces of nature are explained by the standard model but when it comes to Gravity, it fails to explain the existence of carrier bosons in Gravitational force (the predicted particle is “graviton” but still near accurate discovery and experimentation are underway).
This does not prove, that the Standard model is wrong or incorrect since, it has explained the carrier particles of the other three fundamental forces and at a minuscule scale, the particles have the negligible force of gravity, it is only when one takes into consideration the larger scales, like planets (when gravity is the major governing force of nature) that the issue of unification of forces arises. The standard model has another elementary particle called the “Higgs boson” also prominently recognized as the “God particle”, it is responsible for helping in proving mass to all the elementary particles.
The Standard Model works well but there are some other anomalies that left Physicists to consider that the model must be enlarged or extended. This is where Supersymmetry theory was born, after the possible evidence of detection of unknown mysterious substances, called as dark matter and dark energy the standard model needed major revisions, including its extension to accommodate this mysterious substance in our universe.
Influencing candidates of Modern Physics:
Image Credit: CERN; home.cern
The detections of origins and behavioral patterns of dark energy and dark matter haven’t been found yet, and possibly remains uncertain. The CERN’s Large Hadron Collider or the LHC for short is having the principal responsibility for finding clues of the detection of dark energy and dark matter. Humans, from the very beginning of our existence on this planet, have been implanted with limitations ranging from our capacity of working to distance of viewing with our eyes. Similarly, in Astronomy, we hold the shortcomings that we are successful in detecting objects to a precise certainty but only in Electromagnetic Spectrum (EM), forces like dark energy, and matter like exotic matter and dark matter still remain “invisible” (here invisible is referred to as the inability to detect any of the mentioned phenomena or other anomalies in the universe which Astronomers are not aware of) to us whether be it in the visible spectrum or the invisible spectrum.
Is the future ever going yield possible discoveries of these anomalies?
Image Credit: Universe Today; https://www.universetoday.com/141380/uh-oh-a-recent-study-suggests-that-dark-energys-strength-is-increasing/
The answer to this question is strictly biased by the probabilities that scientific experiment goes as expected or yields some mind-boggling question that opens up a completely different perspective for the Universe. In 2012, The LHC at CERN (also referred to as the biggest man-made engineering marvel, much-awaited to be defeated by the Very Large Hadron Collider (VLHC), yes it is its name and quite an appropriate one) accelerated two opposing beams of particles (either protons at up to 4 teraelectronvolts (4 TeV or 0.64 microjoules), or lead nuclei (574 TeV per nucleus, or 2.76 TeV per nucleon) just if you're curious) at about 99% the speed of light, which resulted in the blurred detection of Higgs boson a.k.a “the God Particle”, and by blurred detection, it means that Physicists can’t confirm that they detected it but a short glimpse of its presence was captured by the LHC. This proves that we humans though are much capable of constructing and devising near accurate machines, theories and methods still are absolutely relied upon the cooperation provided by nature. In other words, we can predict possible outcomes but it’s up to nature and its laws, where it leads us. Hence rightly stated by Sir Isaac Newton “the deity endures forever, he meant that some problems and mysteries are unknown to humans and only "God" knows answers to them. So till now we only conclude by saying time will yield the necessary answers to the questions, and it depends on nature how much and how quickly it reveals its mysteries.
References:
1. Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN), more information at- https://home.cern/science/physics/supersymmetry
2. Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN), more information at- https://home.cern/science/physics/standard-model
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), more information at- https://ocw.mit.edu/